According to The Special One, “he forgot the time” suggesting that Hazard was either late for a team event, missed a training session, or other mistake.

“Let’s end the story” said Mourinho. “He’s a kid, kids make mistakes and fathers they have to be clever in the way they educate their sons. He didn’t play, he wanted to play. He’s sad because he wanted to play. We won without him and Saturday he’s back. End of story.”

Prior to missing the match, the Belgian winger had played in every Chelsea game this season but two – one Champions League match and one League Cup tie.

Mourinho made six changes to his side from the one that lost at Newcastle over the weekend, a bitterly disappointing result that left the manager “angry” with his team.

However, not all those changes were tactical. The dropping of the 22-year-old Hazard for Willian was due to previously stated disciplinary reasons, and Samuel Eto’o started over the injured Fernando Torres and scored two goals.